DISPLAY DEVICE
The invention allows formation of LTPS TFTs and TAOS TFTs on the same substrate. The invention provides a display device including a substrate having a display area in which pixels are formed. The pixels include a first TFT made of a TAOS. The drain of the first TFT is formed of first LTPS 112. The source of the first TFT is formed of second LTPS 113. The first LTPS 112 is connected to a first electrode 106 via a first through-hole 108 formed in an insulating film 105 covering the first TFT. The second LTPS 113 is connected to a second electrode 107 via a second through-hole 108 formed in the insulating film 105 covering the first TFT.
The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-093071 filed on May 6, 2016, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to display devices and particularly to a display device with a hybrid structure in which polysilicon (poly-Si) TFTs and oxide semiconductor TFTs are used.
2. Description of the Related ArtA typical liquid crystal display device includes a TFT substrate, a counter substrate facing the TFT substrate, and a liquid crystal layer placed therebetween. On the TFT substrate, pixels each having a pixel electrode, a thin film transistor (TFT), and the like are formed in the form of a matrix. Images are produced by controlling the transmittance rate of light passing through the liquid crystal molecules on a pixel-by-pixel basis.
Low-temperature poly-Si (LTPS) is suitable for the TFTs of a driver circuit because it has a high carrier mobility rate. On the other hand, oxide semiconductors are high in off resistance, and the use of such semiconductors in TFTs reduces off current.
There are various problems associated with forming LTPS TFTs and oxide semiconductor TFTs on the same substrate. Patent Application No. WO2015/194417 discloses a structure for forming LTPS TFTs and oxide semiconductor TFTs on the same substrate. As disclosed therein, doped LTPS is used as the gates of the oxide semiconductors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe switching TFTs of pixels need to be low in current leakage. Leakage current can be reduced by transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor TFTs. A transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor is hereinafter abbreviated as TAOS. Examples of TAOS' s include indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO), zinc oxide nitride (ZnON), indium zinc oxide(IZO), indium gallium oxide(IGO), and zinc oxide(ZnO). However, because TAOS's have a low carrier mobility rate, difficulties can be involved in forming the driver circuit, installed in a display device, with using TFTs made of a TAOS. Hereinafter, the term “TAOS” is used to refer also to a TFT made of a TAOS.
On the other hand, TFTs made of LTPS have a high carrier mobility rate. Therefore, such LTPS TFTs can be used in the driver circuit. Hereinafter, the term “LTPS” is used to refer also to a TFT made of LTPS. However, when LTPS is to be used as the switching TFTs of pixels, the typical practice is to connect two LTPS TFTs in series because LTPS is high in current leakage.
Therefore, ideally TAOS's should be used as the switching elements of the pixels in the display area, and LTPS as the TFTs of the peripheral driver circuit. However, there are problems associated with forming LTPS and TAOS's on the same substrate because they differ in material. When source and drain electrodes are formed of LTPS, hydrogen fluoride (HF) cleaning needs to be performed on the LTPS to remove the remaining oxides therefrom. However, because TAOS's will dissolve in HF, the same fabrication process cannot be used for the LTPS and TAOS's.
The present invention is designed to solve the above problems, and an object of the invention is to make it possible to form LTPS TFTs and TAOS TFTs on the same substrate.
The above object is achieved by the following devices.
(1) A display device including a substrate having a display area in which pixels are formed. The pixels include a first TFT made of an oxide semiconductor. The drain of the first TFT is formed of first polysilicon. The source of the first TFT is formed of second polysilicon. The first polysilicon is connected to a first electrode via a first through-hole formed in an insulating film covering the first TFT. The second polysilicon is connected to a second electrode via a second through-hole formed in the insulating film covering the first TFT.
(2) The display device recited in (1) in which the substrate further includes a driver circuit outside the display area, the driver circuit having second TFTs made of polysilicon.
(3) The display device recited in (1) in which a p-n junction is formed between the first polysilicon and the oxide semiconductor or between the second polysilicon and the oxide semiconductor.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail.
Embodiment 1The TFT substrate 100 is formed larger than the counter substrate 200, and the section of the TFT substrate 100 that sticks out serves as a terminal section 150. A flexible wiring substrate 160 is connected to the terminal section 150 to externally supply signals and electric power to the liquid crystal display device. Since the liquid crystal display panel 500 does not emit light by itself, a backlight 400 is disposed on its rear side.
As illustrated in
Ideally, a TAOS should be used as the TFT of each pixel since it need to be low in leakage, and LTPS should be used as the TFTs of the peripheral driver circuit since they need to have a high carrier mobility rate. In the LTPS forming process, if the LTPS is to be connected to drain and source electrodes, it is necessary to form through-holes in an insulating film covering the LTPS and perform HF cleaning for the purpose of removing the remaining oxides from the surfaces of the LTPS in the through-holes.
However, if this same fabrication process is applied to TFTs made of a TAOS, the TAOS will dissolve in HF, rendering the formation of the TFTs impossible. Thus, this problem needs to be solved in order to form LTPS TFTs and TAOS TFTs on the same substrate.
As illustrated in
A distinctive feature of the invention lies in the structure of the TAOS TFT. In order to connect the TAOS TFT to the pixel electrode or a video signal line, it is necessary to create through-holes 108 in an inter-layer insulating film 105 formed above the TFT. In the invention, although the TAOS TFT is formed of a TAOS 110, the material connected in a through-hole 108 to the pixel electrode or a video signal line is not the TAOS 110 but LTPS 112 or LTPS 113. This prevents contact between the TAOS and HF during HF cleaning of the through-holes. Therefore, the TAOS TFT will not be destroyed by the HF.
Referring
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The photoresist 50 is then removed, followed by the formation of the inter-layer insulating film 105 as illustrated in
Referring back to
After the formation of the through-holes 108 and before the formation of the drain electrodes 106 and source electrode 107, HF cleaning is performed to remove the remaining oxide film from the surface of the LTPS. With conventional technology, it is impossible to simultaneously form LTPS TFTs and a TAOS TFT because the TAOS dissolves in HF. In the invention, by contrast, LTPS 112 and LTPS 113 are formed as the drain and source of the TAOS TFT, and through-holes are formed above the LTPS 112 and LTPS 113. Therefore, the drain and source of the TAOS TFT do not dissolve in HF.
As described above, the invention allows simultaneous formation of the LTPS TFTs and the TAOS TFT on the same substrate. This means that the TFT suitable for the pixel region and the TFTs suitable for the driver circuit can be formed simultaneously.
This diode prevents current leakage. In the display area of a liquid crystal display device, the sources and drains of the TFTs periodically switch their functions. Therefore, leakage can be prevented when a data signal is either + or −. In other words, the p-n junction can reduce leakage current to half.
In the case of organic EL display devices, the positive and negative signs of data signals do not change. Thus, leakage current can be reduced considerably by forming a p-n junction either on the drain side or source side of the n-MOS TAOS of
In
Thereafter, as illustrated in
Although, in Embodiment 2, the p-n junction is formed on the side of the LTPS drain 112 of the n-MOS TAOS, the p-n junction can instead be formed on the side of the LTPS source 113. As described above, Embodiment 2 allows formation of a reliable, low-leakage TAOS TFT.
Embodiment 3The liquid crystal display device of
Application of a data signal between the pixel electrode 123 and the common electrode 121 results in the electric force lines illustrated by the arrows. This electric field causes the liquid crystal molecules 301 to rotate, thereby controlling the amount of light passing through a liquid crystal layer 300 to produce an image.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In
In a liquid crystal display device, when a data signal is written on a pixel electrode 123, voltage is maintained for the duration of a frame by the storage capacitor created by the pixel electrode 123, common electrode 121, and capacitor insulating film 122. If the leakage current from its TFT is large, the voltage of the pixel electrode 123 changes, which causes flickering and makes it impossible for the liquid crystal display device to produce high quality images. By contrast, the use of the TAOS TFT of the invention makes it possible to create a low-leakage liquid crystal display device that produces high quality images.
Embodiment 4The combination of the LTPS TFT and TAOS TFT of Embodiments 1 and 2 can also be applied to organic EL display devices.
In
Also in
Various TFTs are formed in the TFT array layer 120 such as driver TFTs and switching TFTs. Since the invention allows formation of LTPS TFTs and TAOS TFTs through the same process, those TFTs can be combined in various ways. This makes it possible to create an organic EL display device that is capable of creating high quality images and reducing power consumption.
While we have stated that the LTPS TFTs of Embodiments 1 and 2 of the invention are the combination of an n-MOS TFT and a p-MOS TFT, the invention is not limited thereto. Instead, both can be n-MOS TFTs or p-MOS TFTs, depending on the product requirements or fabrication process requirements.
In addition, while we have stated that TAOS TFTs are used for the display area and that LTPS TFTs are used for the peripheral driver circuit, TAOS TFTs can be added to the peripheral circuit or LTPS TFTs can be added to the display area, depending on the product requirements.
Moreover, while we have stated that the TAOS TFT of Embodiments 1 and 2 of the invention is an n-MOS TFT, the invention is not limited to such a case. The TAOS TFT can instead be a p-MOS TFT. In either case, by using LTPS for the drain and source of the TAOS TFT, the same fabrication process as for LTPS TFTs can be used.
Claims
1. A display device comprising a substrate having a display area in which pixels are formed, wherein
- the pixels include a first TFT made of an oxide semiconductor,
- the drain of the first TFT is formed of first polysilicon,
- the source of the first TFT is formed of second polysilicon,
- the first polysilicon is connected to a first electrode via a first through-hole formed in an insulating film covering the first TFT, and l
- the second polysilicon is connected to a second electrode via a second through-hole formed in the insulating film covering the first TFT.
2. The display device of claim 1, wherein
- the substrate further includes a driver circuit outside the display area, and
- the driver circuit includes a second TFT made of polysilicon.
3. The display device of claim 1, wherein the first TFT is an n-MOS TFT.
4. The display device of claim 2, wherein the second TFTs include an n-MOS TFT and a p-MOS TFT.
5. The display device of claim 1, wherein the display area further includes a second TFT made of polysilicon.
6. The display device of claim 2, wherein the driver circuit further includes the first TFT.
7. The display device of claim 1, wherein the display device is a liquid crystal display device.
8. The display device of claim 1, wherein the display device is an organic EL display device.
9. A display device comprising a substrate having a display area in which pixels are formed, wherein
- the pixels include a first TFT made of an oxide semiconductor,
- the drain of the first TFT is formed of first polysilicon,
- the source of the first TFT is formed of second polysilicon,
- the first polysilicon is connected to a first electrode via a first through-hole formed in an insulating film covering the first TFT,
- the second polysilicon is connected to a second electrode via a second through-hole formed in the insulating film covering the first TFT, and
- a p-n junction is formed between the first polysilicon and the oxide semiconductor or between the second polysilicon and the oxide semiconductor.
10. The display device of claim 9 wherein the substrate further includes a driver circuit outside the display area, the driver circuit having a second TFT made of polysilicon.
11. The display device of claim 9, wherein the first TFT is an n-MOS TFT.
12. The display device of claim 10, wherein the second TFT include an n-MOS TFT and a p-MOS TFT.
13. The display device of claim 9, wherein the display area further includes the second TFT.
14. The display device of claim 10, wherein the driver circuit further includes the first TFT.
15. The display device of claim 9, wherein the display device is a liquid crystal display device.
16. The display device of claim 9, wherein the display device is an organic EL display device.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 5, 2017
Publication Date: Nov 9, 2017
Inventors: Yohei YAMAGUCHI (Tokyo), Isao SUZUMURA (Tokyo), Hidekazu MIYAKE (Tokyo)
Application Number: 15/479,392